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Natasa Kandic and the Humanitarian Law Center to receive the 2000 Roger E. Joseph Prize

Monday, May 1, 2000

Natasa Kandic and The Humanitarian Law Center, Belgrade to receive the 2000 Roger E. Joseph Prize from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in recognition of their promotion of human rights of minorities as a prerequisite for the democratization of Serbia

Who: Natasa Kandic and the Humanitarian Law Center, Belgrade, for their courage in bringing to the attention of the world the massive violations being committed by police, paramilitary, and Yugoslavian Army troops in Kosovo and continuing to document these atrocities.

What: The Roger E. Joseph Prize is an international award presented annually to an individual or organization which, by virtue of religious and moral commitment, has made a distinctive contribution to humanity. Established in 1978, previous recipients of the $10,000 award include Victor Kugler, who gave refuge to Anne Frank and her family during the Holocaust; Helen Suzman, the South African anti-apartheid activist; Rosa Parks, the mother of the modern American civil rights movement; the village of Le Chambon, which gave refuge to Jews and Christians fleeing the Nazis during the Holocaust; posthumously to Johan Jorgen Holst, for facilitating the Middle East Peace Accords; The Center for Victims of Torture and the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture; and to the Institute of Contemporary History and Wiener Library in London and the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw for their preservation and dissemination of historic information about the destruction of European Jewry during the Holocaust.

Why: The Humanitarian Law Center provides the necessary evidence for the courts to advance the protection from human rights violations and to bring to justice those who participated in the Serbian state-sanctioned terror. As the Center's founder and executive director, Natasa Kandic works for the promotion of human rights of minorities as a prerequisite for the democratization of Serbia.

When: The 2000 Roger E. Joseph Prize will be presented at HUC-JIR's Ordination and Investiture Services on Sunday, May 21, 2000 at 9:00 a.m.

Where: The ceremony will take place at Congregation Emanu-El in the City of New York, Fifth Avenue at 65th Street, New York City.

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Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is North America's leading institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to North American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and nonprofit management professionals, and offers graduate programs to scholars and clergy of all faiths. With centers of learning in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, HUC-JIR's scholarly resources comprise the renowned Klau Library, The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, research institutes and centers, and academic publications. In partnership with the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, HUC-JIR sustains the Reform Movement's congregations and professional and lay leaders. HUC-JIR's campuses invite the community to cultural and educational programs illuminating Jewish heritage and fostering interfaith and multiethnic understanding. www.huc.edu

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The HUC-JIR website is supported, in part, by the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, the Golden Family Foundation, and the Irma L. and Abram S. Croll Center for Jewish Learning and Culture.